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You are in: Lincolnshire » People and Places » Why don't you...
Why don't you...
April 2005
Why don't you...have a go at farming
By Sarah Bland
Sarah Bland.When the idea was put to me of having my own roving reporter-style feature, I had visions of parachuting from 10,000 feet, rally car driving, swimming with sharks…
Sarah Bland

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Audio. Find out how Sarah Bland got on with the animals at rand Farm Park (Real 56, 2'11")

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But then I wimped out a bit, and decided to start off with a slightly less dangerous challenge; farming.

It's not always seen as the most glamorous of professions, so I went along to Rand Farm Park, just outside of Lincoln, to see if there's a sexier side to farming.

The farm itself is lovely; set against the backdrop of Lincolnshire countryside, a pond next to the car park, a children's playground. Very tranquil and relaxed.

It's an educational farm, so all the animals are helpfully labelled - which is particularly handy if, like me, you're a bit ignorant about the difference between a Friesian and a Jersey. I mean, a cow's a cow, isn't it? Apparently not.

In the small animal's enclosure, there were some tortoises. Except, there was a small notice on the wall explaining that one of the tortoises had gone missing. His name was Archie. This did upset me slightly to think that Archie was out there somewhere, away from his other tortoise friends. I hope they find him soon. Anyway, enough sentiment for now.

From the small animal's enclosure, I proceeded into the smelly, farmyard bit. There were cows, goats, pigs, donkeys… all trying to out-do each other on who could be the noisiest and the smelliest.

I'd say the award for noisiest had to go to the goats, and the smelliest… well, I'd have to say all of them should share that accolade. Don't get me wrong; they were all very cute and funny. Just smelly.

The best bit of the experience was feeding the baby lambs. Aaww. They were absolutely adorable, and very hungry by the way they ran at the bottle of milk I was holding. I learned some top feeding tips from the lovely farmhand who was showing me the ropes.

"Keep the bottle tipped right up so they can get the milk and don't get any air in their tummy."

I think I was a natural; must have been the maternal instinct in me coming out.

I wouldn't necessarily say that I found the sexier side of farming, unfortunately. But I still had a lovely day learning about all the different types of animals. And not a pair of wellies in sight…

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